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June 18, 2009
U.S. Senate Apologizes for Slavery
By unanimous consent, the Senate passed a resolution a short time ago apologizing for slavery and racial segregation.Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, one of the sponsors, said the measure was no “panacea,” but could help trigger “reconciliation.”
“I am pleased that Congress has officially offered an apology for slavery and it’s long overdue,” he said. “The formation of my home state of Kansas was centered around slavery and came to be known as ‘Bleeding Kansas.’ I believe that this official apology will enable our nation to begin healing our racial wounds rooted in the institution of slavery.”
Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, was the other sponsor.
The passage coincides with Juneteenth, a celebration which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
I'm wondering how Robert Byrd voted on that particular resolution, or is he still in the hospital? They probably shot it through while he was gone.
Posted by tree hugging sister at June 18, 2009 04:36 PM
Comments
"Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, one of the sponsors, said the measure was no “panacea,” but could help trigger “reconciliation.”
Such naiveté. There will be no reconciliation so long as there's a dishonest buck to be made with grievance.
Posted by: Gunslinger at June 18, 2009 06:34 PM
I'll try and remember "reconciliation" the next time I'm called a cracker.
Posted by: JeffS at June 18, 2009 07:05 PM
Byrd is still in the hospital, which is a actually a hospice if the rumors are acurate.
Aren't there bills to be read before they're voted on, instead of using time on this nonsense?
Posted by: Retread at June 18, 2009 07:40 PM
I think that has to be filed under "waste no crisis", since there are certainly crisis aplenty they should be dealing with.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at June 18, 2009 08:22 PM
Don't worry, Jeff. I've always thought of you as a crumpet and, in your neck of the woods, "cracker" is probably some twisted compliment.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at June 18, 2009 08:27 PM
I thought cracker was one of those little things with a fuse.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at June 18, 2009 08:58 PM
They'll let Byrd apologize personally, since I believe he's the last Senator to have actually OWNED slaves himself.
Posted by: Dave J. at June 19, 2009 12:56 AM
On this timetable, they'll be ready to apologize for the Klan and Jim Crow by 2137. Oh- wait, you wanted that shmaybe they'd apologize for something some of them actually DID??!? What a concept!
Posted by: nightfly at June 19, 2009 01:34 PM
This just in: All the slaves are still dead.
Posted by: mojo at June 19, 2009 03:46 PM
Since slavery was an institution of the Democratic Party, as was secession, Jim Crow, lynching, the Klan, Bull Conner, Lester Maddox, and George Wallace, perhaps they ought to have done their apology and left the rest of us out of it.
Only a moron would expect this to have a damn thing to do with "reconciliation." Expect reparations to be back on the table soon.
Posted by: Steve Skubinna at June 19, 2009 11:07 PM
Wanna help 'em? Make Black history a required subject in all public schools. The kids will know what to do. Right now Black history is an embarrassed version of events or a moss-bound specky intellectuals croaking interpretation.
Detail the suffering,detail the contributions of black afro americans and detail reconstruction and the industrial revolution.
Who created the Klan? Which were the most destructive anti black laws? How does black society work? (They ain't like you and me...yet.)
Posted by: anthony perone at June 30, 2009 09:29 PM
LCE8GE
Posted by: Gveqfhib at July 14, 2009 10:30 AM